Lesson Title: History of RFID

Dale R. ThompsonComputer Science and Computer Engineering Dept.

University of Arkansas

http://rfidsecurity.uark.edu 1

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0736741.

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Dale R. Thompson {d.r.thompson@ieee.org}

RFID Definition• Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an enabling

technology that is an automatic identification method for retrieving and accessing data using devices called RFID tags, sometimes called transponders. The basic RFID system includes tags, readers, and associated interfaces. Its applications include item management, physical access control, travel documents, finance & banking, sensors, animal tracking, human identification, and product counterfeiting countermeasures.

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Identify Friend or Foe (IFF)

• US and Britain had active beacons 1937-8• Aircraft identification system

– Transponders (tags) on airplanes today• When interrogate respond with 12 pulses• Link ID to other information• Location (altitude and distance)

– Interrogator (reader)• Pair of pulses at 1030 MHz in UHF band• Transmission of info from interrogator to transponder

– Expensive but planes are expensive

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Economics of Identification

• The identification system must cost less than the object to which it is attached

• Large or expensive systems “tagged” first• Small object constraints

• Reduce size• Reduce complexity• Reduce cost

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Low-cost tag requirements

• No transmitter• No battery• Simple circuit• Being heard in the noise

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No transmitter

• Backscattering communication

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No battery

• Harvest energy from radio frequency (RF)

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Simple circuit

• Inductively coupled system like a transformer• Lower frequencies (125 kHz – 10 MHz)

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Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS)

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Electromagnetic EAS system

• Magnetic strip– Magnetize strip = deactivates– Demagnetize strip = activates tag

• Can be reactivated and used again• Transmit low frequency (70 Hz – 1kHz)– Strip detected by unique frequency pattern

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Acousto-magnetic (AM) EAS system

• Transmit about 58 kHz in pulses• At end of pulse tag responds• Tag responds like a tuning fork• Demagnetize = deactivate tag• Magnetize = activates tag• Bias magnetic required

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Radio frequency (RF) EAS system

• Operate 2 – 10 MHz• Transmitter sweeps a range of frequencies• Tags have diode or RC circuit with helical

antenna• Deactivate = strong RF burns out diode or RC

components

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Passive RFID tag block diagram

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Sample applications

• Rail industry in US (late 1980s)• Automobile identification (1990 in Oklahoma)• Livestock management (1996 standards)• Dept. of Defense (DoD) identify shipping

containers (1990s)• Smart payment cards (1990s)

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The Rise of UHF Passive RFID

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Robotic vision (1998)• Vision of Electronic Product Code (EPC) for

every object

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Electronic Product Code (EPC) 96-bit Version

• Every product has unique identifier• 96 bits can uniquely label all products for the next 1,000 years• 2^96 = 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,336

Version EPC Manager (Manufacturer)

Object Class (Product)

Serial Number

8 bits 28 bits 24 bits 36 bits

Auto-ID Center• Formed in 1999• Participants

– MIT– Proctor and Gamble– UCC that administers barcodes for retail products

• Six major universities– Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts– University of Cambridge in the U.K.– University of Adelaide in Australia– Keio University in Japan– Fugan University in China– University of St. Gallen in Switzerland

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Auto-ID Center continued• Vision of ubiquitous RFID• Requirements

– Simple and inexpensive tags– Low-cost manufacturing– Standard infrastructure like DNS to locate information about a particular EPC

number– Savants were names for software agents to consolidate many queries of tags– 900 MHz chosen as best overall frequency based on cost, read range, and

capability• Wal-Mart joined in 2001 and proved to be important• Two startups in 2000-2002

– Matrics bought by Symbol Technologies bought by Motorola – Alien Technologies

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EPCglobal Inc. formed in 2003

• Auto-ID Center outgrew academic environment• Joint venture between EAN International and the

Uniform Code Council (UCC).– UCC standardized Universal Product Code (UPC)

barcodes in US– EAN standardized barcodes in Europe– UCC and EAN combined to form GS1

• Not-for-profit organization developing commercial, world-wide RFID standards

• http://www.epcglobalinc.org/

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Two incompatible protocols!

• Class 0– Symbol Technologies– Impinj– Avery

• Class-1 Generation-1 (Class 1)– Alien Technologies– Avery– Rafsec

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UHF Class-1 Generation-2 protocol (Gen2)

• EPCglobal formed hardware action group (HAG) in 2004

• EPCglobal created Gen2 standard• Became IS0 18000-6C in 2006• Possibly the most important standard for

passive RFID tags

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EPCglobal Standards

• EPCglobal UHF Class-0 (Class0)• EPCglobal UHF Class-1 Generation-1 (Class1)• EPCglobal UHF Class-1 Generation-2 (Gen2)– ISO 18000-6C

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United States Department of Defense (DOD)

• Already used RFID in tracking shipping containers

• Mandated tagging of high-value cases by 2005

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Wal-Mart

• RFID adds visibility as the items flow through the supply chain from the manufacturer, shippers, distributors, and retailers

• The added visibility can identify bottlenecks and save money

• Wal-Mart requested in June 2003 that their top 100 suppliers use RFID at the pallet and case level by January 2005

• Accelerated the introduction of RFID

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Contact InformationDale R. Thompson, Ph.D., P.E.Associate ProfessorComputer Science and Computer Engineering Dept.JBHT – CSCE 5041 University of ArkansasFayetteville, Arkansas 72701-1201

Phone: +1 (479) 575-5090FAX: +1 (479) 575-5339E-mail: d.r.thompson@ieee.orgWWW: http://comp.uark.edu/~drt/

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Copyright Notice, Acknowledgment, and Liability Release

• Copyright Notice– This material is Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Dale R. Thompson. It may be freely redistributed in its

entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder.

• Acknowledgment– These materials were developed through a grant from the National Science Foundation at the

University of Arkansas. Any opinions, findings, and recommendations or conclusions expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation or the University of Arkansas.

• Liability Release– The curriculum activities and lessons have been designed to be safe and engaging learning

experiences and have been field-tested with university students. However, due to the numerous variables that exist, the author(s) does not assume any liability for the use of this product. These curriculum activities and lessons are provided as is without any express or implied warranty. The user is responsible and liable for following all stated and generally accepted safety guidelines and practices.

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